Contactless Authentication: Melexis brings it on home with the MLX90109

February 4, 2010 - Ieper, Belgium - Melexis, a leading supplier of RFID transceivers, is proud to announce that the MLX90109, its single chip, low frequency (125kHz) RFID transceiver was selected by Somfy for use in a security application for homes and buildings. Originally designed for an automotive immobilizer application, the MLX90109 fits also industrial requirements in access control or pet identification. Although the big trend in contactless authentication is High Frequency RF communications (13.56MHz), there are applications where low power, robustness and space constraints call for Low frequency contacless authentication. In all these cases, the MLX90109 is the key element for an optimum solution.

The MLX90109 was successfully designed-in at Somfy for their alarm control terminal. “We carefully reviewed the offering of the various RFID IC vendors and finally selected the MLX90109 as it offers significant competitive advantages over its competitors" said Gilles Grange, Research & Development Manager at Somfy. "As a matter of fact, the low power consumption combined with the small form factor and the low external component count enabled us to add contactless function to our products. As a technology leader in home automation systems, we are excited to be able to offer this additional solution to our large installed base of customers."

Gilles Cérède, Product Line Manager for Wireless Automotive & Sensing at Melexis commented: “Somfy originally contacted us for our transmitter and receiver in the ISM (Industrial, Scientific and Medical) band, but when we presented our RFID portfolio, we raised a new interest. We are delighted that they finally selected the MLX90109 as we believe that this product offers an unchallenged value for our customers, by providing the right features at the right price”.

The MLX90109 is available in volume production together with an evaluation board and a development kit to speed up the development cycle of the customer. The transceiver chip is offered in a 0 to 70°C version and a -40 to 85°C version in the industry standard SO8 pin package for surface mount manufacturing.